Fugitives《Book 3》

Cheaters

Smii7y walked down the beach. It was the beach he stood on the night before in his dreams. However, Neo, Shade, and Nycta accompanied him. They were hot on the group's trail.

"Remember. Water or lighting. Aytrix is fed up with our weak catches." Neo hissed.

"Explosion doesn't seem like a weak catch." Shade mumbled. A shadow worm burst out through the sand in front of them and dove back in. The four contained forward. Smii7y made some armor for a couple of worms and hounds before they bolted ahead.

It wasn't long before they spotted three of their prey. Kryoz, Puffer, and Tucker were there fighting a worm. "Perfect." Neo grinned.

"Oh no." Puffer said when he saw the four abilitors heading their way, "Kryoz. Tucker. You guys have to run!" Kryoz zapped a hound and then glanced at the abilitors.

"No. I'm done leaving my friends! We have to work together, remember?" Kryoz snapped and then added a little more voltage into the worm than what was necessary to make it disappear.

"I'm honored, but they can't get you. They will use you against Smii7y." Puffer summoned a wave that swept three hounds out to sea. "I have an idea too. I'm in my element. Go protect the others." He smiled.

"He's right, Kryoz." Tucker agreed. He changed into a rhinoceros and rammed his horn into a shadow hound, piercing its armor.

Kryoz hesitated and then glanced at his friend who was being forced to hunt them down. "Alright. Don't get caught." Kryoz ordered. He shocked a worm and it squealed. Tucker changed into his dragon and helped Kryoz onto his back. He then took to the skies. Puffer swept away any shadow monsters that tried to follow them.

"Hey Neo! Quit being a fucking coward!" Puffer shouted at them as he stepped into the surf. The surf started lapping against the back of his legs.

"Oh? Ocean hunting? I always wanted to try a few creatures out in the water." Shade grinned. Puffer fell back into the sea. He hoped that Kryoz and Tucker had gotten a safe distance. Under the waves was so peaceful. Like nothing could ever hurt him.

A low howl changed his mind, however. The floor of the ocean was lost in the darkness. His ability gave him heightened senses underwater so he could see the massive shadow looming in the depths. He hoped it was just a whale. Something lunged at him with lots of teeth. He narrowly avoided it by making his own current to carry him away.

It had the body of a whale and the face of an angler fish. A blue light hung in front of its ghost-white eyes. Its body was a shiny black. It nashed its meter-long teeth as it darted after Puffer again. He used another current to get away. He couldn't keep this up forever. Either he'd run out of steam and mess up, ending his journey, or he'd be captured by Neo. Both options didn't sound great.

He felt a bit of a current change and glanced down. A second fish had its jaws opened wide, ready to snare him. Puffer used a bit of pressure to launch himself out of the water and out of reach of the fish.

The fish splashed back into the water and Puffer landed on its back. It didn't dive down. He shook the water from his hair since he wasn't focused on keeping himself dry. The other fish started to circle him like a shark. It stuck its back sail out of the water, warningly. A cold draft of air blew around Puffer. Neo, Shade, Nycta, and Smii7y were standing on a turtle shadow creature to stay out of the water.

"I want to make a deal, fish boy." Shade smirked.

"Shade! There's no time for your games!" Neo snapped.

"Relax. It will be quick. Just a race. You're agile in the water. If you make it to that sandbar first, we'll let you go. If I win, you come willingly." Shade offered. He pointed to a small sandbar about two hundred meters away with a singular tree on it.